Painting machinery



G. MARTINEZ I PAINTING mgcnnmn y Filed Sept. 11 1923 Jun 22 1926.

4 Sheoti-She'gt 1 m: RH firllmm mm m MT m m M m T R W 5 D E R wi fl z m M nwfi 3% m G. MARTINEZ June 22 1926.

PAINTING mxbnmsnv Filed Sept. 11 1925 4 She'ets -Shoat 2 TOHNEY June 22 1926. 1,589,711

G. MARTINEZ PAINTING MACHINERY Filed Sept. 11 1923 4 She'ots Shoat 3 C1 @@@i=ili E c1: w I 1) aim 30 ,0; 27 I i Ill/VENT L 15 5 J0 BABRlg L MHRTI A TTOR/VEY G. MARTINEZ PAINTING MACHINERY Filed Sept. 11, 1923 4 Sheets-Shoat 4 June 22,1926. 1,589,711

INVENTOR snaRlEg MARTINEZ Patented 1.15522, 1926.-

am-.9 STATE PATENT ore-ice.

GABRIEL MARTINEZ, 01! NEW YORK, N. Y., ABBIGNOR, BY HEBNE ASSIGNMENTS, '1O GABRIEL MACHINE CO. INC., OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OINEW YORK.

PAINTING MACHINERY.

Application filed September 11, 1928. Serial No. 862,080. g

This invention relates to improvements in painting machinery and more especially to means for paintin balls.

It is an ob ect of t is invention to provide mechanism whereby much of the manual labor heretofore necessary, together with the delay and expense attached thereto, may be eliminated without afiecting the quality of the work produced.

A further object of this invention is to provide mechanical means forpainting round objects which will insure an even coating over the entire surface of the object and which will eliminate the drops and thickened coating which have been characteristic of dipped products in the past, accomplishing such elimination without necessitating manual manipulation of the objects.

It is also the object of this invention to provide means for painting a multiplicity of objects simultaneously under the guidance of a single attendant while still providing individual control of the-coating and of the solution applied to each object.

The especial purpose of this invention, is to rovide means whereby such objects as gol balls may be mechanically painted without in any way detracting from the evenness of coating and perfectness of'balance which are essential to successful playing.

The mechanical production of golf balls has long been sought as the primitive manual processes employ-ed have maintained the cost of such balls at figures so high that practice with perfect balls became prohibitively expensive and the golf devotee must necessarily use seconds which were generally far from balanced and often times not even round. An instance of such primitive methods of production lay in painting the balls, this was accomplished by rollin the sphere between the paint smeared han s of the operative, the slowness and general costliness of such operation may be imagined, yet it was productive of golf balls which were better balanced and which had better windage, than any that could be produced mechanically by any'known method.

The present invention provides for the elimination of the costly painting process above described and assures an even smooth coating which b3 the method of its distribution serves to re uce, and in many cases eliminate, any slight out of round or out of balanced condition which may be p e in the original ball. I

The foregoing together with other ad- Fig. 2 is an end elevation of the machine shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 shows a top plan view of a portion of the machine shown in Fi 1.

Fig. 4 illustrates in partlal section a further portion of the machine shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is taken upon line 55 of Fig. 1 and shows in plan a part of the lifting mechanlsm.

Fig. 6 serves to show in partial section one the mountin and rotati've means therefor.

Fig. 7 is a ottom view of the device shown in Fig. 6. p

Fig. 8 shows in fragmentary plan a form of introducing tray suitable for use with the mechanism shown in Fig. 1. a

Fig. 9 serves to show in fragmentary plan a form of receiving tray.

Fig. 10 illustrates an edge view, or elevation, ofthe tray shown in Fig. 9, this tray being also suitable" for-use in conjunction with the devices shown in Fig. 1 as will be understood.

Figs.\10, 11, 12, 13 and 14 serve to show in a diagrammatic way the various steps in my improved method and the operation of a portion of the apparatus employed for the accomplishment thereof.

Referring to Figures 1 and 2, the legs 20 serve to support at' convenient hei hts the mechanism supports 22 and the guideways 24, the whole being trussed b such means as the cross members 26 and t e corner braces 27, to form a substantial machine bed. Secured to the supports 22, and the guideways 24, by means of clamps 28, are lifting members 30 which support a frame 34 horizontally above the guldeways 24 in a plane parallel thereto.

The frame 34 is d irovided with a series of spaced downwar y projecting portions of the ball gripping devices together with 36 which serve to journal the arbors 38 01 the grippin mechanism aswill beheremafter descri d. Arbors 38 are simultaneously rotatable through the spur gears 40, the bevel gears 41 and the shaft 42 from such power source as the motor M' as Wlll he showm- The guideways 24 serve as trackways for the shoes 49 of the carriages 50, as by s iding upon these guidewa s t e paint containers 52 may be positione beneath the arbors 38, as shown in the solid lines (Fig. 1), or-removed therefrom as shown in dotted lines at 52. Attached to the sides of carria es 50 are side bars 54 which serve as a tradliway andsupport for the slippers 56 of the trays 57, 57 and 57'. It is the function of these trays to introduce and receive the balls, before and after, painting, the introducing and receiving trays differ only in the method of ball engagement and for convenience have been designated as 57 and 57'.

, 39 in the projection 36 of the frame 34, andv The trays are also provided with side bars 59 and 59 which have been indicated in general by the numeral 59 in Fig. 1 and which serves to engage the edges of plate 60 which controls the operation of the gripping mechanism shown in detail in Fig. 6.

Referring to Fig. 6 the gripping mechanism will be seen to be supported by the arbor 38 running in the hushed journal rotated by the gears 40 and 41 from a shaft 42 connecting to the motor M. Attached to arbor 38, and slidable thereon, is a collar 62 engaging the inner ring of a ball bearing 63, the outer ring of which is clamped through a flanged ring 64 and rivets 65 to the plate 60. This upward movement of plate 60 willcarry collar 62 upward and downward movement will carry collar 62 downward, it being understood that plate 60 also simultaneously engages all of the other gripping devices which are similar to the one now described. Collar 62 is connected, through a stiff spring 67, with a ring 68 having slots 69 for the reception of the inner ends of links 70 which are pivoted to ring 68 by means of'pins 71. The outer end of links 70 engage the upper extremities of the fingers 72, through the pivots 73, while the fingers 72 are pivotedly connected, by pins 75, to the bifurcated extensions 76 of the disc 78 which forms the lower extremity of shaft 38. Below disc 78 the fingers 72 project downward so that they encompass the ball 80 which is to be painted.

Only two fingers 72 have been shown but it is understood that three or'more may be employed (see Fig. 7).

Consideration of the toggle formed by fingers 72 and links 70 will show that vertical motion of plate 60 will control-the inward and outward motion of fingers 72,

therefore an upward motion of plate 60 will pull collar 62, and rin 68, upward, draw in the upper ends of gers 72, and release the ball 80, while a downward movement of plate 60 will force the collar and ring downward, force links 70 to more nearly a horizontal position and, by forcing the lower end of fingers 72 inward, cause them to tightly grip the ball 80. .Thus movement of plate 60 controls the gripping of the balls by the fingers 72 irrespective of their rotation or non-rotation.

It should be understood that the ball bear-' ing 63 is merely a friction reducing device and that any other form of bearing might be used while still accomplishing the desired results of ball grip control. The other gripping devices, one of which is mounted on each of arbors 38, are du licates of the one just described and the p ate 60 operates them as a single unit for release and gripping operations.

The vertical movement of frame 34, and its appenda, is controlled by the lifting mechanism 30, the details of which are best seen from Fig. 4, comprising a guide tube 30 secured to the guideways 24 and supports 22, by means of the clamps 28. Within this guide tube 30" slides a guide .and lift rod 3O against the lower end of which abuts the upper end of rack 30 also sliding within tube 30, and guided thereby. Projecting through the wall of tube 30, near its lower extremity, a gear 30 meshes with the rack 30 and serves to impart motion thereto by which the rod 30 may raise and lower the frame 34. Preferably four of these lifting units are arranged at the four corners of the frame 34, while for convenience in manipulating them synchronously, the gears 30 are secured to the extremities of parallel shafts which are in turn driven from a cross shaft 92 through the bevel gears 93 (see Fig. 5). Shaft 92 is in turn driven through a bevel gear 94, a sector 95, and a short shaft 96 from a hand lever 97. Thus pulling the lever 97 in the direction of the arrow (Fig. 1) will raise the frame 34, while reverse motion of the lever will lower the frame. Counterweights 100 supported by cables 101, winding upon shafts 90, serve to counter-balance the bulk of the weight of frame 34 and to reduce the energy required. Lever 97 is also preferably provided with a manually releasable latch 103 engaging 'the fixed sector 105 which is provided with at least three notches, the lever position shown being the fully lowered one for frame 34 while the right hand notch (Fig. 1) corresponds with the fully raised position. The intermediate position secured when the latch 103 engages the notch 107 is for the purpose of spreading and setting the paint, and that the motor M may be actuated during the period inwhich lever 97 is in this par- Inn tially raised position, a switch S controlling the motor circuit, after methods well known to the electrical art, is secured to the member 22with the switch lever 109 projecting into the path of latch 103. Thus when lever 97 is moved to the intermediate position, and

lows :-The tray 57 comprises a.plate 150 having circular holes 151 therethrou h, in each of these holes 151 a ball 80 is p aced, the frame 34 is raised to its highest position and the carriage 50 with the tray 57 thereupon is pushed beneath the arbors 38. Lever 97 is then manipulated to slightly lower the arbors 38, thus bringing the fingers 72 of each gripping device downward to encompass a ball 80, the tension on the fingers 72 being slightly relieved by the edges of plate 60 encountering side bars 59 of the introducing tray. Lever 97 is again drawn back to raise frame 34, the lingers 72 of the gripping devices are forced together by the weight of the plate 60, springs 67 adjusting any variation in ball sizes, and ball 80 are securely gripped and lifted clear of the introducing tray which is withdrawn. Lever 97 is then thrown to bring 34 to its lowest position, bringing the gripping devices, and the balls gripped thereby, downward into the containers 52 until the balls are submerged in the small quantit of paint 112 contained therein (see Fig. 12 Lever 97 need only be left in this fully lowered position (as shown in Fig. 1) for a moment and can then be thrown to the intermediate position and the latch 103'engaged with slot 107. Balls 80 are now raised above the surface of the paint 112 (as shown in Fig. 13) and the latch 103 striking the switch lever 109 depresses it, starting the motor M which, through the shaft 42, bevel gear 41, and spur gears 40,

rapidly rotates the arbors 38 together with .the gripping devices and the balls held thereby. This rotation produces suflicient centrifugal force to throw ofl' all surplus paint and to spread thepaint evenly and smoothly over the ball surface. It should be noted that ball 80 and those portions of fingers 72 which entered the paint are still within containers 52 so that .the liquid thrown off falls back into the paint 112.

The plate 60also serving to prevent any.

possibility of the 'paint reaching the gearing 40, or t e arbor journals 36. v Continued rotation partiall dries thesurface of the paintedballs an the paint quickly receives its initial set. Lever 97 may then be unlatched, stopping the motor M and thrown to its first position, by which the frame 34, together with the gripping means and balls, are fully raised. Tray 57, comprising a perforated plate 153 having projections 154 preferably punched from the plate metal to project upward in properly spaced relationship, is then engaged with the side bars 54 of the carrier 50 and slid into place beneath the gripping devices. Lever 97 is then released and by a slight lowering of frame 34, plate 60 engages side bars 59*, (see Fi 14,) the tension on fingers 72 is released an the balls 80 are deposited upon the projections 154 of the tray 57, which may then be removed to the right (as shown in Fig. 1) and carried to a suitable spot at which drying will be completed and the paint air cured as may be desired.

In painting articles of the nature hereinbefore described, it becomes essential that the paint shall be of exactly the correct color and consistency. This is accomplished by the employment of the separate cells, or

containers 52 rather than a single large tank. These containers which may be of either glass or metal, require a very small quantity of paint to maintain a properlevel for ball submergence and the paint in each container may be separately added to, removed, or otherwise corrected, when desired. These containers also serve to prevent possibility of the paint thrown from one ball hitting other balls and retarding the drying or spoiling the finish of these others.

It is also essential that a surplusage of aint which may accumulate upon fingers 2 be removed and for convenience in accomplishing such removal a set of duplicate containers 52 containing turpentine or.

nisms are lowered into the containers, a fewrevolutions of motor M assisting the cleaning operation if necessary.

It will therefore be manifest that novel and useful mechanism capable of reducing the labor and manual handling to a mini mum has been provided and that by the simple manipulation of a lever complete dipping, spreading and drying operations may be accomplished simultaneously, fora multiplicity of balls, without the requirements of any special skill on the part of the operator and with the continuous production of a uniform round,evenly balanced and smoothly paintedproduct. Clearly the process is not limited to balls but may be applied to a multitude of like coating or painting operations.

Manifestly many changes and modifications may be made in the embodiment of my inventions and in the uses thereof while various elements and groups of elements may be separately employed to accom lish beneficial results, all within the spirit of my invention and within the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. A golf ball painting machine comprising isolated paint cells each containing coating material, a rotatable grippernormally above each said cell and the material therein, a journalled reciprocable mounting for said grippers, moans introducing and removing -balls from said grippers, and operating mechanism, said mechanism reciprocating said mounting to dip said balls and rotating said grippers to spread the paint applied by the dipping operation aforesaid.

2. A golf ball painting machine comprising paint containers, a plurality of ball grippers simultaneously operable to grasp the balls to be painted, a movable mounting for said grippers and operable to dip the gripped balls in the said paint containers, said grippers movable relative to said mounting and the aforesaid paint containers to spread the paint applied by dipping, and means formaintaining the palnt spread until initial setting takes place.

3. A golf ball painting machine comprising a plurality of isolated paint cells each containing ball coating material, a substantially vertical arbor provided with*a ball gripper positioned substantially in line with each said cell, an arbor mounting vertically movable relative to said cells to dip balls held by said gripper in the aforesaid coating material, said mounting provided with self contained arbor rotating means rotating said arbors and grippers to distribute the coating over the dipped balls supported thereby, and interlocking controlling mechanism for said mounting and rotating means.

4. A golf ball painting machine comprising isolated paint cells each containing coatlng materia rotatable ball grippers normally above said cells, a journaled reciprocable mounting for said grlppers and movable to raise and lower the same relative to said coating material, gripper control mechanism, means for supporting a ball beneath said gri pers to be grasped thereby, and interlocke operating mechanism, said operating mechanism controllable to operate said gripper through its control to grasp the ball, further controllable to actuate said mounting to dip the held ball in the coating material and to elevate the ball from the same, to rotate the elevated gripper and ball for treatment of the paint thereon and to further actuate said gripper through its control to discharge the ainted ball.

5. A golf bal painting machine comprising a plurality of isolated paint cells each containing paint, a plurality of substantially vertical arbors rotatably mounted in a vertically movable member above said cells, each said arbor registering with one of said paint cells, a ball gripper on each said arbor, ball introducing means adapted to support a plurality of balls for simultaneous engagement by said grippers said vertically movable member operable to raise said grippers and the gripped balls, to lower them into said cells and into the paint therein and to raise the dipped balls clear of the paint, said rotatably mounted arbors connected for simultaneous rotation together with the dipped balls therein, to spread and set the paint, said vertically movable member further operable to raise the painted balls clear of the paint cells, and a ball receiving means adapted to receive the raised painted balls when released by said grippers.

6. A rocess for painting a plurality of golf ba is simultaneously comprising, dipping the balls to apply the paint, spreading the applied paint and maintaining the paint uniformly spread until it is set.

7. The process of painting a plurality of golf balls simultaneously which comprises, dipping the balls to apply the paint, removing excess paint and spreading the same and maintaining the paint uniformly spread until it is set.

8. As an element in a ball painting machine structure, a ball gripper comprising a spindle provided with finger bearings, a plurality of grip fingers pivoted in said bearings, a finger control member and means positively linking all of said fingers to said control member whereby operation of said control member simultaneously actuates all of said fingers to grip and release the ball.

9. Mechanism for painting balls comprising a horizontal guideway, carriages bearing a multiplicity of paint containers slidable upon said guideway, ball supportin trays engaging the aforesaid carriages an slidable thereon above said containers, lifting mechanism supported beneath said guldeway and extending thereabove, a frame supported and vertically movable by said lifting mechanism, arbors journaled in said frame and simultaneously rotatable by mechanism thereon, gripping mechanism carried by said arbors, gr1pping mechanism releasing means, and a unitary control for said lifting rotating and gripping mechanism, said guideway supported in a substantially level plane to provlde a track for conveying said paint containers beneath said frame when raised, said trays adapted to receive a multiplicity of balls to be painted and to position said balls beneath said gri ping mechanism when the tray is supported y the paint container carriage beneath the grip pmg mechanism, said gripping mechanism 1 operable through said lifting mechanism from said unitary control to simultaneously grip the balls and raise them from the tray which may then be removed, said liftin mechanism further operable to lower sai gripping mechanism into the aforesaid aint containers to dip the balls in the paint t erein, then to raise the balls above the surface of said paint, said unitary control adapted to operate the grip ing mechanism arbor rotator when the bal s have risen above the paint surface but before leaving said containers, said unitary control further 0 erable to stop said rotation and to operate said lifting mechanism until the balls are raised to a position permitting insertion of a supporting tray above said containers and further operating said mechanism to cause the balls to be lowered upon said tray and to operate the said releasing means to discharge 20 the balls from said gripping mechanism.

Signed at New York, in the county of New York and State of New York.

GABRIEL MARTINEZ. 

